Month: March 2016

Tomorrow I’ll be dropping off this collection of books at the Little Free Library in front of Arsaga’s at the Depot. If you happen to want any of these three books, just follow me on twitter and look for a tweet that says, “The drop has been made.” Then you can roll on over to the little library and pick them up!

This collection includes:

Sunflower Houses: Garden Discoveries for Children of All Ages is full of fun activities that utilize things found in nature. A great guide for parents, teachers, children, etc.

The Way of Herbs is a thorough guide for those who are seeking herbal remedies. A good thing to check out as you plan your garden this spring!

3 Bowls: Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery is full of really interesting recipes

In case you’re local (Northwest Arkansas), and you want any of these books, all you have to do is stop by the Little Free Library at Arsaga’s at the Depot and pick them up!

An extra note: When I first started this project – delivering my mom’s old books to a nearby Little Free Library – I was excited about sharing some great reads with my community in a way that was easily approachable by everyone. I’m still super excited about that, but I’ve also had a really intense time connecting with the books that I didn’t expect to have. These are the books that were in my home throughout my whole childhood. We moved back and forth from California to the Ozarks multiple times toting these treasures! Each one makes up a little piece of who I am. I think most people would feel the urge to keep the books as mementos of their past, but, I think for me it’s been more impactful to touch each book, read bits of it, pair it with other books from the same collection that relate in some way, and then let it go impact someone else. I’ve got dozens more to deliver, so keep following along if you’re interested! You can subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed by clicking the link in my righthand toolbar that says “entries RSS”. See you at the library!

I commuted to work by bike every day this week (and I work on Sundays – so that’s 6 days of bike commuting!) Unfortunately, it also rained every day this week. My ride to work is only about 2.5 miles and takes me around 15-20 minutes, but rain is rain and whether you’re riding in it for 10 minutes or an hour you’re going to get wet.

It’s especially important to have the right kind of gear for riding your bike to work because when you arrive you have to look presentable. I have a coworker who’s just starting to build his bike commuting gear collection, and he asked me for advice on riding in the rain and commuting in general. I got so excited! Other people wanted to know about this crazy bike commuting thing I do! That’s why this week I’m doing a mini series on commuting by bike centered mostly around riding in the rain.

The way I see it, there are two options for dealing with your bottom half when riding to work in the rain. To start we’ll be talking about an important piece of gear for riding in the rain, and option one: rain pants! Rain pants are awesome, and if you are someone who likes being outside you should probably just go ahead and buy a pair. They are nice to have for hiking and camping and any other situation where you might be out in the rain for a long time. I bought my pair before heading to a football game where I’d be sitting in the stands in the rain. When it comes to biking in the rain, you’re going to get a lot more wet than standing around or walking (especially on your legs) because you’re moving into the rain drops and your bike is going to splash a lot of rain from the ground up onto you, so they can be especially nice. Keep in mind that even if it’s not actually raining, a wet road can be the perfect time for rain pants. Ex: My boyfriend splashed wet-tar-speckles all over his brand new khakis last week.

All of that said, I actually have a love hate relationship with rain pants. They are really great for biking, but only in super specific weather. If it’s not cold out, I get super sweaty riding in my rain pants, which kind of defeats their purpose. So, I’d say that if you’re biking to work somewhere where it gets cold, you absolutely need a pair of rain pants. But if it’s warm, there are better ways to deal with your bottom half in rainy weather. That brings us to option two:

When it’s warm but rainy I ride in small cycling shorts (or just simple spandex shorts) and change into more appropriate-for-work bottoms when I arrive. I bring a small microfiber towel with me to dry off before I put my dry work pants on. And, I carry my towel, spare pants, and a snack in a dry bag that I throw in my basket or bungee to my rear rack.

I feel like I should say that I’m lucky enough to work in a building that has a pretty accommodating restroom. In fact, we have lockers available and a shower in our main staff restroom (spoiler alert: I’ve never actually used either and don’t really plan to – so if you don’t have lockers and/or showers available to you, don’t fret – all of the tips to come will still be super helpful.) But what rocks about that whole environment is that it encourages being able to change into work clothes after I arrive.